I enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the Scottish countryside were lovely. The characters were very interesting, although at times tiresome. I think Ben's character development was inconsistent; he went from irresponsible to the other extreme. Are we to assume his character didn't change, he just used his unlimited wealth? How does he really feel about Joel? I would like to know more about the Rabbi (not to give away more plot). Is she meant to be only a secondary character? It doesn't feel like it. I ask if you would be able to "do the right thing" wondering if each of the adults in the book can/have.

This book had a slow start for me, in fact I wasn't sure I was going to like it. First person narrative doesn't always work for me. However, the author won me over with great characters, captivating descriptions, and an interesting structure to the book. I enjoyed the history intertwined with the lives of the characters and how it moved the action along. At times I wished for more at the end of a chapter; I wanted to know what happened the next day, the next week. But the narrator moved us eight years forward to another day in his life. It was never boring.

The main characters were all strong in their own way. If this were a television series, each one of them could have had their own "spin off." Each character was complete, yet there was plenty of room for my imagination to invent a future story line for each of them. The historical narrative never was contrived nor was the insertion of the characters.

I described this as a book about family because it felt like Isaac was taking me into his confidence, as he described his memories of these people whom he considered to be his family. I felt like part of his family. His was not the typical family of the 20th century by any means, but it felt like the families of today, diverse, spread out over miles, multigenerational. I loved this book.

I am a sucker for good character development and especially, quirky characters. Help Wanted has both. Beyond the characters, this book looks at a portion of the American population that is often overlooked, both in real life as well as in print. People who work behind the scenes in big box retail stores are a struggling, backbone of life in this country. I don't claim to have a firsthand knowledge of their life, but it seems to be depicted here with accuracy, often with humor and compassion. They are all heroes as well as tragic characters, to themselves and to each other, as every day yields new disappointments but sometimes successes. I wanted to get to know them all, even the people I didn't like much; they were all so interesting.

This is definitely not a book for someone looking for fast paced action or adventure. Day is a book of character development that is, at times, excruciatingly slow. I appreciated the book taking place over three years; it allowed the author to skip over a lot of unnecessary details in family dynamics. For me, personally, it was painful to relive the period of the Pandemic so soon. However, that did intensify so much in the lives of the characters. While I was reading, I occasionally wondered if all of characters were necessary, but by the end of the book, I could not imagine removing any of them.

This book made me feel too sad. I guess that sounds simplistic, but I can't shake that feeling, especially because I usually have a favorite character at the end of the book, and with Day, I find I don't have one. I also have a feeling of overwhelming loss. I can't stop thinking about the children in the story, wondering what life will be like for them.

This is an interesting book for several reasons. The author tackles the always tricky issue of family relationships as well as ethnicity and how American culture influences people growing up in other countries.

How a parent living in another country shapes the life of their child is addressed here. Rosa idolizes her father, and her mother doesn't do much to change her idealized image of him. Even when she spends time with him in New York, she questions his lifestyle, yet because she doesn't verbalize her questions, they are never answered. Is this how life really is? Culturally I think this was accurate, and it illustrated a different way of thinking and growing up that may be surprising to some readers.

I enjoyed and appreciated the thread of outer space history throughout the book. It is much more complicated than we realized at the time, growing up in the 60s. What I did find unsettling were the Rosa's unresolved questions and how they affected her as a young adult. Certainly, success is fleeting in life, and how you view others' success is different from whether you think you achieve it for yourself. I wished for more happiness for Rosa. Perhaps it is my personal preference for a "happy ending."

There are important stories told in Innards, however I found it difficult to read. I was tripped up by characters names and confused by the use of African place names and dialect. They are important to the author's story, but the language only got in the way of the plot for me. I was unable to finish reading the book, to my dismay, as I was keen to learn more about this place and time. Hopefully others will find these stories engaging.

Simply put, this novel is about homesteading in the territory of Alaska in 1956. But it is really more than that. It is a surprisingly sensitive story about human nature, change, lies, and trust. Through the characters Lawrence and Marie, their families, and other lesser characters, the reader feels the urgency of homesteaders' lives. I appreciated the author's economy of words in the short chapters and constantly changing voice in the narratives. Her style worked for me.

This passage stuck with me: "Why gain light if only to lose the light? Worse than not having is the having and the taking away. Not having, there is the want and waiting of having." Then it continues, "We want everything because we got nothing."

I am haunted by these characters. In a good way.

What do you get when you throw an old, steely woman together with a young college dropout? This book tries to answer that question, and I loved their journey.

Early on I thought Oakley's book was just contemporary fiction, but it wasn't long before I uncovered the mysteries woven into the plot. It was skillfully written. I loved the quirky personalities of the characters as well as the way the character development unfolded.

This book was captivating. It moved the characters and timeline along with its short story format, which I appreciated. At times I had difficulty with so much of the dialog being in Spanish, but eventually the rhythm of the story let me move past words I didn't know; it didn't seem to matter.

The relationships of the family members were well captured. They felt personal to me, as an Asian American, yet anyone could relate to many of the characters. It was an intimate look into another culture and at times other faiths. The author firmly, yet delicately told the story of a multigenerational family, how their lives are bound together by more than just their culture. While this is not unique to people whose beliefs are full of superstition, the Izquierdo family struggles with holding onto their past and adapting to life in America at the same time. I am struck by this sentence, "Dina spends her days thinking about the past because she has always wanted to hold onto the present, hoping things would never change."

I think this would be an excellent book club book.

This book gave me a lot to think about. Right from the start I was taken in by the idea of a lonely person wanting to immerse themselves in a fictional place. Who hasn't read a book and inserted themselves in the action? But Bonnie is able to take it to the extreme when she wins the lottery.

She goes from being on the outside looking in, to being inside working to shut out the rest of the world. Bonnie's wish for solitude has become an obsession.

I felt like the author gave us a look inside the madness of Bonnie's loneliness. It was uncomfortable and chilling.

I enjoyed this book very much. There were plenty of plot twists that were intriguing, starting with the title of the book. The character development unfolded in an interesting way, with the voice of the storyteller alternating among Sylvie, Lucas, and Thomas; it was very effective.

This is another benchmark of a good book for me. Do I wish it hadn't ended yet or do I wish there were a sequel? I definitely felt like this at the end of Some of It Was Real.

I think this could be a good book club book. The plot and characters would definitely generate a lot of conversation.

This book gives the reader a lot to think about. On one level it deals with the relationship between parent and child. This was the one I couldn't get out of my thoughts, as I volleyed between being the adult child and the parent: how it feels to grow old, how it feels to watch your parent age.

The project was at times too rambling for me, with its obscure references to writings and artwork that were not familiar to me. However, it did serve to move the novel forward, and it was definitely a central part of the narrative. Art is life is art.

I liked this book also for its lens into a different kind of Chinese family, unlike and yet so similar to many of us, walking the fine line between ghosts of the past and survival in the present.

Generally I enjoy historical fiction, either because I'm able to connect with one of the characters, whether they are real or fictional or because I'm drawn in by the plot, the time period, or the setting. Unfortunately The Paris Bookseller did not provide any of these for me.

I think fans of James Joyce might enjoy seeing him from Sylvia's point of view. As most of the characters were real people, I suppose accuracy was more important than color. It was well written but lacked enough imagery for me. Book clubs may enjoy this book.

This is a compelling read, both because of the subject and the author's fine writing. Having two storylines, one in the past and one in present day, keeps the action moving forward and helps explain a lot, however I was disappointed in the completion of the present day narrative. It did not match the back story's richness. While it answered questions, it lacked emotional clarity.

Take My Hand is sure to generate a lot of discussion for people unfamiliar with this event in American history as well as continuing the conversation about the syphilis study at Tuskegee. While this is considered to be a work of fiction, it is historically accurate.

I loved this book. The character development of the quirky people who live in this neighborhood is great. They are all very believable; they are compelling. I appreciate the light the author shines on mental health without being preachy. From Rae to Lettie to Rae's mom, everyone's reactions to the people in their lives affected so many lives. Will the trajectory of their lives change, or will they fall back into old habits and patterns? Are "the million things" events, thoughts, memories? I'm not sure. I find myself thinking about the people in this book, wondering what happens to them after the book's end. That is one of a million things that made this a memorable book for me.

I rarely give a "five star rating" to a book, but I have not enjoyed a book this much for quite some time. The Personal Librarian is a treasure. It was as captivating as a good novel, and at the same time I was learning about the J. P. Morgan Library and its librarian. I had never heard of Belle da Costa Greene, so I enjoyed learning about her life; it was a pleasant coincidence to do so during Black History Month.

Sometimes books with two authors have awkward moments. This book did not. The passages that were obviously nonfiction, such as descriptions of art, books, or architecture, fit into the narration seamlessly, and even though I was often not familiar with the information, I was not bored. The Epilogue was the only part of the book that felt inconsistent to me. It seemed stilted, not so true to Belle's voice, although it might have been my own discomfort with the politics around me that colored my interpretation of it as I read.

I would highly recommend this book to a reader who doesn't necessarily enjoy nonfiction as strongly as to someone who enjoys reading about history.

If ever I needed to read a book that would make me laugh, now was the time. Admittedly, it might not have been fair to begin reading in this mindset. In fact, I wasn't completely sold in the first 100 pages. I felt like I was reading the author's stand-up material, and maybe I was. The problem was that I wanted more; each chapter felt too short to me. But then I fell into the rhythm of the writing. I laughed at the situation or stopped to remember a similar time in my life.

It was somewhat confusing to sort out the many relationships. There's a lot of material covered here, and it led me to compare Loh's writing to David Sedaris'. I think she easily has enough material here for a second book, if some of the early chapters were expanded. Simplicity goes a long way. My other thing to think about is the title; I'm not sure it does the material justice.

Anyway, long before the last page, Loh turned me into a fan of her humor. As a mother, 60 survivor of the last century, recently anointed Grandmother, and an American born Chinese retiree, I enjoyed this book on many levels.

In general I am a sucker for a novel with quirky characters, or even better, a thriller with a quickly moving plot that ultimately ties up its loose ends. Unfortunately, Catherine House disappointed me.

Initially it felt more like a young adult novel to me; the plot, setting, and characters seemed to speak to a younger audience. I currently work part time in an independent school's middle/upper school library, so I've read more than my share of ya books. I thought the plot line would really appeal to our students, however, the character development fell short, and the plot dragged.
At the end of the book I felt cheated. The narratives were inconsistent; most did not really add to the flow of the book. I could not identify with any of the characters or even feel sympathetic toward any of them. That was probably what made the book "average" instead of "good" for me.

I suppose if you were captivated by the students tangled up in the plot, you might be able to overlook the weaknesses of the book, but it was not really for me.